Year after year I try to set two or three resolutions and decide what action I’ll take to make them happen. Until December 30, I planned on losing about 30 more pounds after having long nearly 50 pounds over three years. I spent all of 2007, except for December, focused on losing more weight: how I could get the pounds off, what was holding me back, keeping my eye on the proverbial prize. It became an obsession. I read anything I could get my hands on to help me make my gym time more effective, tried healthy recipes, became a label reading crazy woman. Did I mention I was obsessed?

Not anymore.

My focus for 2008 will go far beyond the narrow scope of numbers on a scale. Instead my body will become like a guinea pig or rat that is probed and prodded to find out what it takes for me to function at my best at least most of the time. I will become my body’s best friend treating it to massages, cardio workouts and strength training at least three times a week. I'm not striving for perfection, just a better me.

Meanwhile, I'll be fueling my body with natural from-the-ground foods, clean water, iron supplements (seems I’m lacking in that area) and taking care of my mind and my spirit through reading to learn and for fun, and prayer time set aside daily to reconnect my spirit to my Lord and Savior. After a rough December where I ate whatever I wanted, didn't exercise, and didn't take care of myself I realized...again...that if I don't provide the nourishment I need, who will? But life, my life, is too short to spend another year bound to a fickle scale.

If the numbers on the scale plummet, great, if they stagnate but I have more energy, clarity, peace, focus and joy overall the benefits will far outweigh any number on the scale. What would it take for you to be a better you? Aren't you worth it?